Biography and Gameplay Functions

Ocarina of Time

Link and Navi

Since Link is not a real Kokiri and does not have a Fairy to call his own, Navi is summoned by the Great Deku Tree to accompany Link on his quest to save Hyrule.[1][2] Throughout the game, Navi provides Link with a variety of clues to help him solve puzzles and progress in his quest.[3][4][5] Navi also helps the player learn the controls in the game, such as teaching how to open doors or how to push and pull blocks.[6][7] Link can listen to Navi's advice by pressing the C-Up Button in the Nintendo 64 controller whenever her name flashes on the screen above all of the item buttons.[2]

In gameplay, Navi's primary purpose is to function as a focusing target. By pressing the Z Button, Navi will target the most nearby object, enemy, or person. She glows yellow to indicate when she is targeting an enemy, blue when Link can talk to someone from a distance, and green when she is targeting something of interest. Any time Navi targets something, she will yell out to Link "Hey!", "Listen!", or "Watch out!" Pressing the C-Up button while Link is targeting an enemy will allow him to hear Navi provide information about said foe. Once Link learns "Saria's Song", the young hero can communicate with Saria through Navi.[8] When Navi's help is not being used, she seemingly hides herself inside Link's hat; however, she can be summoned at any time by pressing the A Button while Link is standing still. In the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time, Navi often tells the player to take a rest from playing.[9]

Although Navi can target most enemies and give Link clues as to how to defeat them, in the battle against Ganondorf, Navi is unable to help the young hero due to the waves of darkness produced by the King of Evil.[10] Once Link defeats Ganondorf and escapes the crumbling Ganon's Castle along with Princess Zelda, Navi apologizes for not having helped Link in the battle.[11] However, Ganondorf emerges shortly after from the castle ruins and transforms into Ganon. Navi, willing to aid Link, exclaims that she will not be held back by Ganondorf again and joins the young hero in the fight, where they eventually defeat the King of Evil.[12] After Princess Zelda sends Link back to his original time, Navi can be seen leaving Link's side for undisclosed reasons as she flies away into the lit window inside the Temple of Time.

Majora's Mask

Link and Epona looking for Navi in Majora's Mask

It was widely speculated that the "beloved and invaluable friend [...] with whom he parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny"[13] mentioned in the introductory sequence to Majora's Mask is Navi. This is made all the more probable given the "Fairy flying" sound-effect that is played after the text disappears off the screen but before the Lost Woods scene begins. Years later, this was confirmed by the official artbook Hyrule Historia, which says Link was indeed searching for Navi for months in the Lost Woods until he found Skull Kid.[14] This is already told in the Majora's Mask manga, but it isn't part of official canon of the series.[15]

Other Appearances

A blue Fairy in the likeness of Navi appears in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, where her design is used to indicate the pointer of the Wii Remote when it is not being used for other functions, like aiming the Bow.

Hyrule Warriors

Navi also appears in the North American version of Hyrule Warriors at the beginning of the Death Mountain stage, pleading to Impa and Sheik that they save the captive Princess Ruto from Darunia and his troops. During the actual battle, and in the European and Japanese versions of the game, she is referred to only as a generic Fairy.

Relationship

The precise relationship between her and Link is a matter of contention, since it is left ambiguous by Nintendo - the only time she speaks during the game (with the exception of the "Hey" and "Listen" sound effects) is during the introductory sequence and during the Temple of Time sequence. However, in an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, he mentions that Navi is jealous of Princess Zelda, saying that Link's Fairy companion "feels something for [him]."[16]

Ocarina of Time manga

At the end of the Ocarina of Time manga, just as Navi leaves Link, she tells him that she loves him;[17] however, it is unclear whether she was able to tell that to Link, as she leaves directly after.

Destination

Theory Warning

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Navi's reasons for leaving at the end of Ocarina of Time are unclear, and her whereabouts afterward are unknown. However, some fans have noted that the window Navi flies through as she leaves seems to coincide with the entrance to the Temple of Time dungeon seen in Twilight Princess. If so, it is possible that she may have settled in the temple, or else lived there for a while before moving on.

Development

When the concept of Z-targeting was being developed, an upside-down triangle was used to determine which enemy Link was targeting. The designers felt this marker was too simple, so they wanted to replace it with a cute Fairy girl, believing it would fit the Zelda atmosphere. However, the Nintendo 64 was not able to support such a Fairy, so a ball of light with wings was used instead. She was originally called the Fairy Navigation System, but was later renamed Navi. After naming her, many of her functions were designed, such as changing color to distinguish between friends and foes, acting as a guide and providing strategy tips.

Her design also allowed developers to overcome a problem in Kokiri Forest. Due to the Nintendo 64's limitations, it was difficult to display the villagers and structures all at once, so each person was paired with a Fairy to help locate them. When Link approached them, their owners would appear and he could interact with them. Both of these expanded the story so that Link was the only child in the forest without a Fairy, then he met and parted with a Fairy companion.[18]

Reception

Navi is one of the more criticized The Legend of Zelda series characters, which is due to her constant yelling of "Hey!" and "Listen!" throughout the game and for giving "unsolicited advice."[19][20] Cracked.com editor Tim Lovett listed Navi the eighth most annoying video character, mentioning how she "pester[ed]" Link like a "naggy, clinging spouse."[21] Although Mikel Reparaz from GamesRadar credited Navi for helping players by locking onto targets and enemies,[22] he criticized her for the overused "Hey! Listen!" phrase and listed her as the number one most irritating female character. Additionally, another GamesRadar editor ranked her second place in a list of "cutesy characters" they want to "beat the crap out of," describing her as a "tactless" Tinkerbell and considering her to distract players from the gameplay.[23] GameDaily also listed her as one of the gaming characters they "wish they could kill, but can't."[24]

Impact and Legacy

Despite her much criticism, Navi is notable in that she is one of the few characters with any voice-acting in the series and the only other character (aside from Link in The Wind Waker and Beedle in both The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword) who uses English words. She also became a milestone in the Zelda series as being the first of Link's canon Fairy companions, as she would pave the way for other upcoming sidekicks such as Tatl. Ciela from Phantom Hourglass uses two of the same voice clips as Navi (her "Hey!" and "Look!" clips). Additionally, because early trailers for the game featured the Fairy's quotes yet did not show Ciela's name, many fans initially believed she was Navi.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a Fairy resembling Navi is seen flying next to Link in front of a forest holding the Pedestal of Time. This same Fairy appears as part of one of Link's taunts during combat; she emerges from Link and circles him once with him looking on before hiding herself back into Link. Navi is also used as a mouse cursor for the Japanese Ocarina of Time 3D website.[25]

Trivia

Navi's name comes from the word "navigation". Navi was originally supposed to be named "Fairy Navigation System", but since the name was too long, the developers changed it to Navi.[18]

An official video was released which is guided by Navi in Japanese when Ocarina of Time was first released.[26]

Video Gallery

References

↑ 1.01.1"I'm Navi the fairy! The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on! Nice to meet you!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑ 2.02.1"Navi the fairy... Thou must aid Link... And Link... When Navi speaks, use (^) to listen well to her words of wisdom..." — Great Deku Tree (Ocarina of Time)

↑"Look at this wall! The vines growing on it give it a rough surface... Maybe you can climb it, Link!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"Wow! Look at all those Bomb Flowers! Is there any way you can set them all off at once?" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"Should we believe what Sheik said and go to Kakariko Village?" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"You can open a door by standing in front of it and pressing (A). Pay attention to what the Action Icon says. That's the blue icon at the top of the screen!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"Stand next to this block and grab hold of it with (A). While holding (A), you can push or pull it. If you stand next to the block and press (A) while pressing (+) towards the block, you can climb on top of it. Pay attention to what the Action Icon says!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"While [Navi] does sometimes give useful hints, more often then not she interrupts the game to repeatedly suggest that you take a break from playing. . . ." (Nintendo Power issue #268 (Nintendo Power), pg. 82)

↑"Link! I can't help you! Because of the waves of darkness, I can't get close! I'm sorry, Link!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"Link... I'm sorry I couldn't help you in the battle before!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"There's no way he's going to hold me back again! This time, we fight together!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)

↑"A journey in search of a beloved and invaluable friend... A friend with whom he parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny and took his place among legends..." — Prologue (Majora's Mask)

↑"Link set off on his horse, Epona, who lived at Lon Lon Ranch. Months passed as he wandered in search of his companion, Navi, eventually losing himself in a mysterious forest. It just so happened that this forest led to a parallel world known as Termina." (Hyrule Historia (Dark Horse Books), pg. 110)

↑"Before long, however, it became HEY! clear that she intended to be with LISTEN! us throughout the remainder of the game. And that might not have been so bad, except for her constant HEY! yammering. She also had a bad habit of interrupting our LISTEN! exploration by repeating the HEY! same all-text suggestions over and HEY! over, or floating above some HEY! object of interest that we either were LISTEN! already done with, or weren't ready to be interested LISTEN! in yet. But her unsolicited advice, interruptions and demands for attention would all have been tolerable if she hadn't insisted on driving us insane by repeatedly yelping the same two LISTEN! HEY! HEY! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! HEY! HEY! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! HEY! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! LISTEN! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! HEY! LISTEN! words. WHAT!?" — The Top 7… Irritating female characters, GamesRadar.com.

↑"But we grudgingly put up with her presence, because she HEY! taught us how to get around in the LISTEN! world and helpfully floated above whatever objects or LISTEN! monsters we locked our HEY! aim onto." — The Top 7 Irritating female characters, GamesRadar.com.

↑"You know why. Was there ever a more annoying sidekick/targeting reticule in the world? Sure, she was “cute” in that Tinkerbell sort of way - but Tink had class whereas Navi was utterly tactless. She led you off cliffs, distracted you from cool stuff. And she never, ever shut the hell up - even when we might have had a shot at finally getting to second base with Zelda." — Top 7 Cutesy Characters We Want to Beat the Crap Out Of, GamesRadar.com.

↑""Hey! Listen! Hey! Listen!" Unless you acknowledge this little fairy's existence, she'll continue to annoy both you and Link until you dream of drawing his Master Sword and cutting her wings off. We can't remember the number of times we fantasized about feeding her to a hungry skulltula. Alas, she's invincible and therefore, even more irritating." — Characters We Wish We Could Kill (But Can't), GameDaily.com.